Warmer for casualty evacuation bags



Feb. 3, 1953 D. M. sTADD ETAL WARMER FOR CASUALTY EVACUATION BAGS 2 SHEETS- SHEET l Filed Nov, 15. 1949 INVENTORS /l/f. Jffff `@ono/of a/jf Raymond )1a/kreativer BY ATTORNEY INVENTOR s Feb. 3, 1953 Filed Nov. 15. 1949 Patented Feb. 3, 1953 WARMER FOR CASUALTY EVACUATION BAGS Donald M. Stadd, New York, N. Y., and Raymond Paul Schreiber, Washington, D. C.

Application November 15, 1949, Serial No. 127,384

2 Claims.

The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by. or for `the Government for governmental purposes Without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to warmers for casualty evacuation bags and sleeping bags and has for one of its objects to provide a catalytic warmer of compact constructionV which may be readily slipped into a casualty bag or sleeping bag and will furnish the required amount of heat without liability of injury to the occupant. 1

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a Warmer comprising three elements, namely, a fuel reservoir, a catalytic heater, and a sheath or envelope for the fuel reservoir and heater.

Another object of the invention consists in providing a sheath or envelope which is porous on one side and non-porous on the opposite side, and which is a functional part of the warmer in that it acts as a fixed temperature control and aids in more effective heat distribution. l

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the catalytic warmer in its completed form ready for use;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the warmer in opened position with a portion of the catalytic heating element curled back in order` to disclose the fuel reservoir;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the fuel reservoir and pyrophoric igniter;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional View through the warmer in its folded position ready for use; and Y Y Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional detail view of the fuel reservoir.

As heretofore mentionedguthe,warmer of the present invention is intended for use in associ-` tion with a casualty evacuation bag or a sleeping' bag. The Warmer' comprises three primary elements, namely, a shield or envelope indicated generally by the numeral I and composed of upper and lower hinged sections 2 and 3 respectively, a catalytic bed or heating element 4, and fuel reservoir 5.

The sections or halves 2 and 3 of the envelope l are hingedly connected by a flexible hinge 6, and the three edges may be releasably secured by a conventional zipper or slide fastener construction 7. It will be understood that each of these two sections of the envelope or shield is composed of a plurality of layers of insulation for properly inclosing the catalytic heater and the fuel reservoir associated therewith. The upper half or section ofthe shield comprises an outer sheet of coarse woven fabric preferably of fiberglass, and indicated by the numeral 8. Just below the sheet 8 of fiberglass (Fig. 4) are two layers dof-fiberglass insulation, although it will be readily understood that the number of layers may be increased or decreased as desired. Below the fiberglass layers 9 is a pair of sheets ID of coarse woven fiberglass and below that is another layer l l of fiberglass insulation. Belowthis last layer of fiberglass insulation is sheet l2 of Acoarse woven berglass. The edges of these variouslayers of fiberglass insulation and the inclosing and interposed sheets of coarse woven fiberglass may be united by stitching or the like I3 to provide a unitary construction.

The lower section 3 of the shield or envelope is similarly composed of a top layer lil of coarse woven fiberglass, a plurality of layers I5 of fiberglass insulation, and an interposed layer I6 consisting of one or more sheets of aluminum or other metal foil, there being six of such sheets shown in the present illustration., These various layers forming the lower half or section 3' of the shield or envelope may also be united at their edges by stitching or the like Il for providing a unitary construction.

The catalyst bed or heating unit may be composed of a plurality of layers of fiberglass insulation indicated generally by the numeral I8 and distributed on the interior of this fiberglass mass is a chargeof palladium or platinum black spread as evenly as possible along the bed and indicated by the numeral lil. The layers of berglass insulation with. the inclosed palladium black are completely wrapped in la, sheet it of coarsely woven fiberglass which isV doubled Voverthe layers of insulation and has its three vi3d-ges stitchedntogetherwith wirestaplesor the like 2i.' This cataly'st bed is provided with snap fasteners 2 2; in its four corners which are complementary to similar fasteners 23 secured to the four corners of the lower section 3 of the envelope or shield, thereby providing for releasably attaching the catalyst bed or heating element in cooperative relationship to the fuel reservoir 5.

This fuel reservoir is of shallow construction and preferably stamped out from sheet aluminum to provide a body portion 24 open at its top and closed by a cover 25 also formed of aluminum and permanently held in position by a series of rivets 2B. Disposed between the closure 25 and a ange on the body portion 24 of the reservoir is a gasket 3 21 formed of neoprene or the like. Within the reservoir body 24 is a plurality of layers of fiberglass batting insulation 28 which serves as a fuel absorbent and the top is provided with a centrally disposed opening 29 across which extends a wire mesh screen 30 which serves to close the opening 29 against the exit of any of the fuel absorbent 2-3. AThe cover 25 may be provided with an extension 3| which extends beyond the body 24 of the reservoir and serves as a mounting for pyrophoric lighter comprising a disk 32 of pyrophoric material pressed againsta slidably mounted file-like igniter 33 by means of leaf springs 34 v secured on the extension 3l by'means of `a rivet 535.

As clearly indicated in Fig. 4 the reservoir 5 is mounted on the lower section 3 of the `envelope and the catalyst bed is superimposed thereon and held in position by the complementary snap fasteners 22 and 23 just referred to, thereby releasably supporting the bed in its cooperative relae tion with the reservoir. ,y

`In use, yt`.heslidefaste`ner 'I is operated to release the envelope -I so that the vsections 2. and 3 may -befswungto-open position as shownin Fig. V2. Thereafter `the fuel reservoir 5 maybe removed and charged withfuel, such as gasoline or leaded gasoline, -by pouring the same through theopening 29 to be absorbed by the fiberglass 28 within the reservoir. The 4operation vof the heater may then be-initiated by pouring a small amount (half an ounce or so) of fuel on the center of theheating `element 4. If extra fuel is not available for starting the heating element, the reservoir rnay be inverted over lthe element v4 and pressed on either side of the opening 2-9 to cause the vfuel to drip from the opening or transfer from reservoir to heating element by capillary action. The fuel on the element 4 may then be lighted by using a match or by inverting the reservoir 5 over element 4 and operating the pyrophoric igniter 32- '33'. The fuel reservoir is then 'slid between the heating element 4 and the lower section 3 of the envelope, with the open side in contact with the heating element. Thereafter the flame is allowed to burn outland the envelope is then closed and the slide fastener operated to secure the envelope in closed position. The unit is then placed in the desired position in a casualty bag or sleeping bag with the top side, that is, the side exposed to the opening 29, directed away from the occupant of 'the bag.

By reason of the porous upper section of the envelope and the non-porous lower section, due to the position of the layers of metal foil and the metal reservoir, the lheat generated in the warmer passes to the 'space within the bag and yet the occupant is protected from excessive direct heat if the warmer is positioned in the manner indicated above. Also it is to be noted that by reason of the non-porous underside in conjunction with the porous uppersde a unit is provided in which the input of oxygen and the output of carbon dioxide must travel slowly and through only one side of the unit, thus preventing a through draft and serving as a fixed temperature control.

To extinguish the burner it is only necessary to operate the slide fastener so as to permit the removal of the fuel reservoir 5 which isthereafter placed on top ofthe heating element-4, and the slide fastener is then moved to closing position.

From the foregoing description and the attached drawings, it will be noted that we have devised a novel construction of warmer for casualty 'bags and the like,'that the insulated heating element is detachably connected within the envelope fand is therefore readily replaceable if and when the catalyst becomes poisoned, that the envelope is a functional part of the Warmer in that it serves as a fixed temperature control and aids in more effective heat distribution, as well as insulating the warmer with respect to the body of the occupant; and that no variabley temperature control is required since the Warmer creates its own ambient temperature immediately surrounding itself within thecasualty evacuation bag shortly after ignition.

We claim:

l. A warmer for vcasualty bags and the like comprising a catalytic heating element, said element including a -bed of brous material anda catalyst disposed on the interior thereof, a fuel reservoir in contact with said bed and provided with an opening'for the passage of fuel to the bed, and a porous insulating envelope inclosing the heating element and reservoir, said envelope comprising hingedlyconnected sections, and one or more layers of metal foil extending across one of said sections.

2. A shield or venvelope for a catalytic heater, 'comprising porous hingedly connected sections, each section comprising one or more layers of fiberglass insulation disposed between sheets of Woven material, and one or more sheets of metal foil disposed in one of said 4sections and co-extensive with the area thereof.

DONALD M. STADE. RAYMOND PAUL SCHREBER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,659,185 Baker Feb. 14, 1928 1,953,513 Simmons Apr. 3, 1934 1,970,081 Eisend-rath Aug, v14, 1934 2,042,690 Weber June 2, 1936 2,239,410 Bonat Apr. 22, 1941 2,346,998 Reveno Apr. 18, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Y umber Country I Date Great Britain Nov. 4, 1920 

